


Matsukawa's Sleeping Problem

by skullpen



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blushing, Domestic, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, High School, M/M, Strangers to Lovers, before canon, sleeping issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-27
Updated: 2018-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-24 16:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13814985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skullpen/pseuds/skullpen
Summary: Matsukawa is late to class... again. It's only their first year, surely he can't be serious. And why is he napping all the time? Even during volleyball practice??? Hanamaki takes it upon himself to figure out what exactly Matsukawa's problem is and ends up getting a little too close.





	Matsukawa's Sleeping Problem

In their first year of high school, Hanamaki started noticing that Matsukawa was continuously showing up to class late. When he wasn’t late, he was extremely disheveled and acted like a walking zombie. His first impression was that Matsukawa was doing it on purpose to seem tough, which Hanamaki personally found pretty lame.

He ended up becoming acquainted with Matsukawa through volleyball. The other two first years were already a familiar pair, which left him lumped together with the zombie when being assigned chores. It didn’t help that the noisy one called Oikawa would always plead to be matched with Iwaizumi. And on top of it Matsukawa barely helped out at all, leaving Hanamaki to do most of the work while he ran away to nap.

Hanamaki’s first impression of Matsukawa was not a very good one. He was pretty irritated by the other boy’s behavior, but since they were going to be part of a team, Hanamaki thought it would be worth the effort to make friends. Matsukawa did not make it easy for him.

\---

“Why are you always sneaking off to take naps?” Hanamaki asked him irritably, waking the sleeping boy from one of his naps.

Matsukawa yawned and shrugged Hanamaki off of him. “Because I’m tired. Do I need a better reason?”

“Mattsun, you need to be more serious about volleyball if you ever want to become a regular. You’ll never be one if you keep slacking off,” Oikawa chided from behind them, using his new nickname for Matsukawa. Hanamaki was doubtful it was going to catch on.

Matsukawa flipped them both off as he walked away.

“What a nasty temper,” Oikawa remarked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Reminds me of you,” Iwaizumi said as he passed by, returning to practice. Oikawa quickly followed him complaining, leaving Hanamaki to stand there frustrated. He really didn’t understand any of them, Matsukawa most of all. He turned back to practicing his spikes, taking his anger out on the helpless volleyballs.

\---

“Why are you late to class all the time?” Hanamaki asked while they were getting ready for practice.

Matsukawa yawned as he changed. “I can’t hear my alarm when it goes off,” he said matter of factly.

“Why don’t you turn up the volume?”

The other boy snorted, clearly growing irritated, “You think I haven’t tried that? It’s already the loudest it can go.” He closed his locker a tad more forcefully than necessary and left for the gym.

“Well, excuse me then,” Hanamaki mumbled under his breath. He assumed he was just making conversation, but had clearly struck a nerve. He hoped that there were chosen for opposite teams in today's practice match, because he’d really like to send a ball flying towards that unkempt head. But he thought of himself as above that.

\---

Composing himself, Hanamaki went to talk to Matsukawa during lunch. Matsukawa wasn’t the least bit pleased to see him, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t sure where all the malice had come from, but if they were going to be on a team together, he’d rather have allies on his side, not enemies.

Hanamaki took a deep breath, wanting this to end as soon as possible. “I’m sorry for my ignorance yesterday. I seemed to have unintentionally struck a nerve and I apologize for my carelessness. I hope that we might become friends instead,” he said a bit louder than he intended to, drawing the attention from nearby classmates. He stuck out his hand in order to seal the apology with a handshake.

Matsukawa looked genuinely surprised, mouth hanging open with food halfway to his mouth. He quickly recovered, noting that they had a small audience. “I’m sorry as well. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just haven’t been sleeping well,” he replied formally, shaking his hand curtly. The interest of the other classmates quickly disappeared and they both relaxed.

“Do you not like to talk about it?” Hanamaki asked cautiously, lowering his voice so that others wouldn’t be inclined to listen in. Matsukawa seemed like a more rational guy than he had originally thought.

“It’s… a bit personal,” Matsukawa said, clearly uncomfortable talking about it.

“Are you doing okay, grade wise?” Hanamaki knew that missing classes couldn’t make it easy for keeping up his grades. And he needed good grades to play volleyball, the coach insisted that of every player.

Matsukawa winced. “I could be doing better,” he admitted.

“Do you want to borrow my notes?”

For the second time, Matsukawa looked at him like he was crazy. “You’d let me?”

Hanamaki smiled and playfully hit him on the shoulder. “We’re friends now, aren’t we?” Then he noticed the rather enticing lunch the other boy had before him. “Actually… you can have them, but only if you give me a bite of that.” He pointed at the carefully organized meal, his mouth watering.

Matsukawa scowled. “I knew there was a catch.” But to Hanamaki’s surprise, he scooped up a bite and offered it to him. He must really need those notes. Hanamaki happily leaned forward and ate it, surprised by how good it actually was.

“Oh my god,” he said through a mouthful of food. “This is delicious.” If he were in an anime, he would have stars in his eye’s right about now.

“I’m glad you enjoy my cooking,” Matsukawa smirked, taking a huge bite for himself.

“Dude… You made this?” This guy was full of surprises. “I’ll give you my notes everyday, if you make lunch for me too.”

“No can do, amigo. My lunches are worth more than that. Now where are those notes you promised for today?” Full of surprises and a harsh businessman as well. Hanamaki grew all the more curious about him, knowing that he would be thankful to have him on his side, rather than fight against him.

“Just return it tomorrow,” Hanamaki said, handing over the notebook.

“Sure. Now if you excuse me, I need a nap,” Matsukawa said, clearing his desk and resting his head on top of his arms. It was clear that this conversation was over.

Hanamaki was a little irked. He had thought they had been getting along well, but clearly sleep was more important. He let the man rest, knowing that he might lose the ground he just gained if he brought it up. They can talk later.

In fact, Hanamaki started to bug Matsukawa during lunch everyday. Partially, to see if he could get a bite of whatever Matsukawa had. He only ever got one bite for his notes. But he was satisfied with one bite.

\---

“I heard that Matsukawa has been hand feeding Hanamaki during lunch now. Have you two really gotten that close already?” Oikawa teased while they were getting ready in the clubroom.

Hanamaki blushed and Matsukawa nearly choked on his water, but Iwaizumi spoke up before either of them had time to respond. “Says the boy who asks to have some of my lunch everyday,” he said flatly. Oikawa turned his own shade of red in both embarrassment and anger, quickly spurting out nonsense in his defense. The other two boys couldn’t help but snicker and Hanamaki noted how Iwaizumi seemed to find his own amusement in teasing Oikawa.

\------

Matsukawa somehow passed through the first year, but when their second year rolled around, the third years were graduating and he was actually being called to play on the court more often. He could no longer sneak away to nap, and because he was napping less, he ended up sleeping in even later. Now that Hanamaki had grown close to him, he was starting to worry. He would joke about how Matsukawa would be late, but it was always brushed off.

The day when Matsukawa didn’t show up until the end of lunch, Hanamaki decided to confront him seriously. He cornered him before practice. “Give me your address,” he demanded.

“What? Why?” Matsukawa asked, extremely confused by the sudden request.

“I’m going to come over tomorrow morning to make sure you get to school on time,” Hanamaki didn’t beat around the bush.

Matsukawa sighed heavily, probably catching wind that Hanamaki wouldn’t let up until he had gotten what he wanted. “Fine. My family should be there if you show up early enough. They can let you in.” He sent his address to Hanamaki.

“They don’t make sure you get up?” Hanamaki asked.

Matsukawa shrugged. “I’m the last one to leave, and my mom figures that I am old enough to take care of myself.”

Hanamaki smirked and teased him, “Apparently you’re still a baby since you are always late.”

“This baby manages. I’m still holding good grades.” He nudged the pink haired boy playfully.

“All thanks to me.” Hanamaki said proudly.

“Yeah, yeah, thank you my savior,” Matsukawa joked.

\---

Hanamaki found Matsukawa’s house fairly easily, but it wasn’t remotely close by and quite out of the way from his usual route. It was a simple house, the outside a similar style to his own, but smaller. He knocked on the door.

A tall women answered the door, familiar black hair pulled back into a bun, and she wore a simple grey suit. She had considerably less beady eyes than Matsukawa and smiled warmly at him, that made him want to smile back. That must be his mother, Tomoko. He barely noticed the far younger girl standing behind her, clinging to the mothers dress. She had wild hair, extremely similar to her brother’s, but didn’t share the same bushy eyebrows. Hanamaki figured she would be more thankful of that when she was older. Clearly, it was Matsukawa’s younger sister, Megumi.

“Hello, I’m Matsukawa’s friend, Hanamaki!” he greeted them warmly.

“Oh! Yes, Hanamaki! He’s told us about you. I’m sorry, but he’s not up yet. Would you like to come in? I was just about to leave, I hope you don’t mind,” she spoke quickly, as she ushered the little girl back to grab something from the kitchen while also slipping into her shoes.

“It’s no problem at all. I’m just here to walk to school with Matsukawa,” he said, stepping inside.

“You’re such a nice friend!” Megumi returned with two lunches, one of which she stuffed into her own bag. The mother smiled and turned to face into the house and yelled, startling Hanamaki. “Issei! We are leaving! Your friend is here!” She turned back to Hanamaki. “Sorry about that. We have to be off now! Have fun!” He waved to them as they left, barely managing to say goodbye before the door closed.

The house was eerily silent. Hanamaki left his stuff by the door and creeped further into the house, floorboards creaking. He had no idea where Matsukawa’s room even was.

He didn’t have to wait long. The loud blaring of an alarm rang throughout the house, scaring Hanamaki nearly out of his skin. Following the sound he found Matsukawa’s room and knocked on the door, unsure that it would even be heard over the alarm. No response.

“Matsukawa, I’m coming in!” he called through the door. Slowly, he peeked in, taking in what was the other boy’s bedroom. It was way cleaner than Hanamaki had imagined, besides the stray clothes that bunched up on the floor. Mostly everything was stacked and organized, even if it wasn’t all that neat, and there was a large green bean bag in one corner of the room. He made a mental note to claim it as his own whenever they hung out here.

Then there on a bed that could probably be a bit bigger, was Matsukawa, sprawled out and basically snoring while the alarm rang right next to his head. Hanamaki snorted, slightly impressed that Matsukawa was that deep asleep.

The alarm snoozed itself and the eerie silence was back again. Hanamaki guessed that now it was his turn to try and wake the boy up. He walked up next to the bedside, and crouched down.

“Matsukawa, it’s time to wake up,” he sang shaking Matsukawa’s exposed shoulder. There was an incoherent grumble and a hand reached out, settling on Hanamaki’s head and pushing him backwards. Surprised, Hanamaki fell back on his butt. Matsukawa was going to need more prompting.

Hanamaki tried to shake him awake again, considerably less gently. “Wake up sleepy head!” The sleeping boy blindly pushed him away again. Maybe he needed more force.

Hanamaki was going to try one more time, and if that didn’t cut it, then he was leaving him behind. This time Hanamaki stepped on top of the bed, one foot on either side of Matsukawa and his hand resting against the wall for balance. “It’s time to get up!” he yelled, jumping up and down on the bed.

This time Matsukawa stirred, eyes blinking open until he found the source of problems. He grumbled and tried to pull the blanket up over his head. Except, Hanamaki was standing on that blanket and lost balance when he pulled on it. He fell on top of Matsukawa’s legs, both of them grunting painfully. Hanamaki moved to the side and gently kicked at the other boy. “Hurry up and get ready or we will be late for school, not that you ever worry about that.” He only received a groan in response. Growing irritated, Hanamaki snatched up the blanket. Matsukawa flinched at the lose of warmth but instead buried his face in his pillow. Hanamaki kicked at him again.

They both jumped when the alarm started going off again, but this time Matsukawa was quick to silence it.

“Finally awake now?” Hanamaki snorted, watching the other boy rub his eyes.

“No,” he responded, voice rough and scratchy. He huffed and plopped back down onto the mattress, face first into his pillow.

“Oh no you don’t!” Hanamaki braced himself against the wall and used his feet to push Matsukawa off the other end. Matsukawa realized what was happening too late and fell to the floor with a loud thud. Hanamaki was satisfied to hear him groan from the floor.

A very disheveled head came into view to glare at him, but Hanamaki couldn’t take him seriously and stifled a laugh. “You demon,” Matsukawa yawned, standing up and stretching upwards.

“About time,” Hanamaki smirked, looking all too comfortable sitting on the bed, but extremely satisfied that he was able to get Matsukawa out of bed.

The taller boy started to pull at his pj pants but paused, looking back at Hanamaki. “Do you mind?”

Hanamaki shrugged, “No.” He was settled and savoring his victory. He didn’t understand why Matsukawa was being so weird about it since they changed in front of each other before and after practice all the time. It struck him too late why Matsukawa would ask for privacy, when the other boy dropped his pants and Hanamaki was staring at his bare ass. Turning red, he looked away quickly, only looking back when Matsukawa spoke again.

“Come on, I’m almost ready,” he said, exiting the bedroom. Hanamaki was still frozen from his embarrassment, before he regained his thoughts and crawled off of the bed. Hearing Matsukawa move around in the bathroom, Hanamaki made his way to the front door, gathering up his things. He checked the time; they should still be able to make it.

Matsukawa took almost no time to get ready and was soon standing beside Hanamaki, breakfast bad stuffed in his mouth as he pulled on his shoes. They locked up the house and were finally off to school. Matsukawa looked extremely tired, but Hanamaki took pleasure in the teacher’s surprised faces when they saw that he was actually present.

“Do you want me to come by again tomorrow?” he asked after practice that day. Unsure if Matsukawa had actually enjoyed being woken up by him, he had been pondering even asking that question. Maybe he had been a bit too rough.

“Sure,” Matsukawa said nonchalantly.

“Oh, okay.” Hanamaki had been expecting a refusal. He wondered what exactly Matsukawa was thinking underneath that calm, bored looking face.

\---

Hanamaki showed up the next day around the same time. Tomoko didn’t look surprised to see him and let him in while her and Megumi rushed out. He waited a few moments until the alarm went off and followed the sound to Matsukawa’s room again. This time he didn’t bother knocking, knowing Matsukawa wouldn’t be able to hear it anyways. The messy haired boy was deep asleep, laying on his back, limbs stretched towards the edges of the bed. Hanamaki skipped straight past the gentle methods.

Gripping both of his shoulders, Hanamaki shook him roughly. “Wake up!” he practically yelled.

To his surprise, Matsukawa’s arms shot out and wrapped around Hanamaki’s neck, pulling him down to his chest as he rolled onto his side away from where he stood, pulling Hanamaki across him. Hanamaki pulled at his arms, trapped in a bear hug. The other boy nuzzled into this hair and Hanamaki felt his cheeks flush.

“Hey. Hey, Mattsun. Matsukawa! Wake UP!” He struggled against his retainer, pushing at him and trying to pull his head out. He felt Matsukawa starting to stir.

“Let me go, sleeping beauty!” he complained loudly.

He felt the arms tighten and a grumbly voice spoke softly. “I’m awake, stop yelling.” When Hanamaki looked up at him, Matsukawa’s eyes were still closed.

“If you’re awake, then stop holding me prisoner!” Hanamaki said, struggling even harder. Finally, Matsukawa released him, stretching his arms upwards and yawning. Hanamaki sat up and leaned against the wall, his legs still across Matsukawa. The alarm when off, making them both jump, but Matsukawa silenced it quickly, then went to rub his eyes.

“Didn’t know you had such a cuddly side to you,” Hanamaki joked, messing with his hair so that it would lay flat again after Matsukawa messed it up.

“You know me, I’m just a big ol’ teddy bear,” he yawned again, finally sitting up.

Hanamaki slid over towards the edge of the bed and paused by Matsukawa, giving his shoulder a few pats. “Well this teddy bear needs to get ready for school.”

Matsukawa gave a small amused huff and leaned his head over onto Hanamaki’s shoulder. “Can I have five more minutes?” he said, closing his eyes.

“No, no, no, no, no. You have to get up!” Hanamaki pushed him back upright and stood, pulling at the other boy’s arm to get him to stand as well.

“Fine,” Matsukawa complained, giving in and standing. He stretched towards the ceiling again and Hanamaki took his leave, giving him some privacy to change. He peeked around the house briefly while Matsukawa got ready.

Soon they were on their way to school, idly chatting and Hanamaki sharing some new gossip he had heard. He knew Matsukawa was barely paying attention, with the faintest hint of dark circles under his eyes. He was concerned for his well being, but knew that that was a touchy subject. He was even more curious about how Matsukawa acted in the morning, pondering over if his friend could even remember what he was doing or had any say in it.

Those thoughts runimated in his head as the day passed slowly, all the way until practice ended.

Matsukawa turned to Hanamaki after changing. “See you same time tomorrow?”

Hanamaki nodded, “Same time tomorrow.”

“Do you guys have a date or something?” Oikawa butted in, obviously looking to have some fun.

They both laughed. “We just walk to school together,” Matsukawa said. They left before Oikawa could say anything more.

\---

When Hanamaki knocked on the door, it appeared to swing open all by itself. Then he noticed Megumi peeking out from behind it. She scampered off towards the kitchen, leaving him to close the door. While setting his stuff down an mouthwatering scent drifted towards his nose. He followed it into the kitchen where the family seemed to have gathered.

He was surprised to see Matsukawa awake, although not nearly put together, judging by the apron thrown over his pj pants. Hanamaki could tell that he was still tired, going through the motions slower than usual.

“Hurry up Issei!” his sister whined, jumping up and down by the counter next to her older brother.

Matsukawa placed a hand on the child’s head and pushed her away. “Shhh, you’re too loud in the morning,” he complained. But he finished filling two boxes and pushed them towards his mother and sister.

Tomoko leaned over and kissed his cheek, picking up one of the lunches. “Thank you, Issei. Don’t be late for school,” she reminded him. They hugged briefly and then the mother steered the younger sibling out towards the front door. “Hello, Hanamaki,” she said as they passed him.

“Morning,” Hanamaki said in response. Once the front door opened and closed he turned towards where Matsukawa was filling another box for himself. “You’re up early,” he remarked.

Matsukawa tried to hide a yawn but failed miserably. “I forgot to make the lunches last night, so my mom dragged me out of bed to do it before they left.”

“When am I going to get one of those special lunches?” Hanamaki jested.

“Do you want one?” Matsukawa asked, looking back at him.

Hanamaki’s face lit up. “Really? Of course!” he said excitedly.

Matsukawa chuckled and pulled out an extra box, grabbing some more food from the fridge to add to the dish. “You’re also too loud in the morning,” he remarked. Hanamaki watched as he worked, surprised that he was able to work so cleanly while practically falling asleep.

In a matter of moments, there were two more filled boxed and Matsukawa pushed one of them over to Hanamaki, who accepted it graciously. “Thank you so much,” he bowed, half jokingly.

Matsukawa was able to get ready quickly after cooking, leaving the dishes to soak in soapy water until later.

“You ready?” Hanamaki asked, waiting by the door.

“Yeah,” Matsukawa said, still letting out a yawn. He was subject to an overly chatty boy, now that Hanamaki’s mood had been lifted.

\---

Hanamaki continued to visit every school morning, pulling or pushing Matsukawa out of bed to wake him up. It wasn’t so bad, now that he was used to dodging all of Matsukawa’s unconscious flailing. His only concern was the growing dark circles under the other boy’s eyes and his occasional naps growing longer and longer. It wasn’t until Matsukawa fell asleep standing up during practice one day that Hanamaki decided to act.

He had helped the zombie like boy walk to the nurses office so he could rest. Instead of going back to practice, Hanamaki stayed, reasoning that they could work without him there. The nurse left them alone, and he stared at Matsukawa, who was already fast asleep. Hanamaki could see how dark the circles underneath his eyes were and found himself worrying about the curly haired boy. He felt bad, for seeing all the signs and doing nothing about it besides what he had always done. The guilt about not helping sooner worried the corners of his brain as he sat by the the side of the bed.

Glancing over, Matsukawa twitched in his sleep. Hanamaki had seen him sleeping plenty of times before, but this time, he could see how ragged his friend looked. He sighed heavily, staring and wishing that there was something more he could do. Without thinking, he reached over and stroked Matsukawa’s head, running his long fingers through the messy black curls. He heard the other sigh in his sleep, his body relaxing.

Hanamaki felt his cheeks flush, but continued to stroke through his hair, his heart beat loud in his ears.

“Makki!” Oikawa slammed open the door and half sung out Hanamaki’s nickname. Hanamaki jumped and pulled his hand away, looking back to see Oikawa and Iwaizumi enter.

“Be quieter, Matsukawa is sleeping,” Iwaizumi elbowed Oikawa in the ribs.

Hanamaki waved the statement off. “It’s fine, he won’t hear you. He can practically sleep through anything.”

Iwaizumi quirks his eyebrow. “How do you know that?”

“Because I’m the one who has to wake this sleeping beauty up every day,” Hanamaki huffed.

The other two sat on an adjacent bed. Seeing Oikawa was about to say something annoying Iwaizumi spoke first. “When did that start?”

“A while ago. He kept being late to class, and I didn’t want to see him kicked off the team because of his grades,” Hanamaki said, glancing over at Matsukawa. He knew that he wouldn’t wake up, but kept his voice low anyways.

“You’re so sweet, Makki. I don’t think Iwaizumi would ever do that for me,” Oikawa pouted, looking at his shorter friend. Iwaizumi just rolled his eyes.

“How was practice?” Hanamaki asked, changing the subject. The two were already changed back into their school uniforms. They had probably decided to stop by to check on them before heading home.

“Same as always,” Iwaizumi shrugged.

“Less fun,” Oikawa added. Hanamaki snorted.

“We wanted to stop by to see how you two were. The coach was also concerned and sent us with the clubroom key. Just make sure to lock up once you guys are done.” Iwaizumi tossed the key over to him. Hanamaki caught it a bit clumsily.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure. I have to help zombie boy here once he wakes up.” They all looked at Matsukawa and he rolled over to face away from them.

“Do you need any help? We aren’t doing anything for the rest of the day, right?” Oikawa said, looking towards Iwaizumi for confirmation. He nodded and they both looked to Hanamaki.

“It’s alright guys, I can handle him. You two can go have a date or something,” he teased, watching both of them give him an annoyed look. Oikawa looked a bit pink.

Iwaizumi stood. “Good luck with that then. We’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Hanamaki nodded.

“Don’t let him sleep too much!” Oikawa called back as they head to the door. He waved as they left, letting the quiet fall back over the room before turning back to Matsukawa. It was probably time to wake him up now.

He gently shook Matsukawa’s shoulder. “Matsukawa, time to wake up.” The other boy grumbled, stirring slightly easier than Hanamaki had thought. “Don’t make me push you off this bed,” he threatened.

Matsukawa heaved himself up, blinking blurrily, looking very confused. “Where are we?” he asked, yawning.

“In the nurse’s office. Don’t you remember? You fell asleep standing during the middle of practice.” Hanamaki reminded him.

Matsukawa held his head in his hands and sighed heavily. “Shit.”

“Hey! Language,” Hanamaki scolded, half teasing, half worried about his friend.

“Sorry, sorry… Everyone saw that, didn’t they?” he mumbled through his hands. The tips of his ears looked a bit red.

“...Yeah.”

Matsukawa sighed again, and pulled his hands away. “Let’s go.”

Hanamaki didn’t need to help Matsukawa at all as they made their way to the clubroom to change out of their jerseys.

“Are you alright?” Hanamaki asked as they changed.

“After that nap, yeah,” Matsukawa replied.

“No… I mean…” Hanamaki didn’t know if he was going to be pushing against any boundary he wasn’t supposed to. He went ahead and asked anyways. “Are you alright… at home? You’re not over exerting yourself are you?” Matsukawa looked at him, not saying anything. Nervously, Hanamaki rambled on, “Like, I know how nice your family is and all that, but you always seem so tired all the time, and I know volleyball can take a lot, but it seems like you are doing something more that makes you so tired, but I don’t know what goes on in your life, and I’m just… worried about you.” His rambling slowly turned into mumbling at the end.

Matsukawa’s look turned soft and he bumped shoulders with Hanamaki. “I’m alright, I promise you. But thank you for worrying about me.” He was almost done changing.

“But…” Hanamaki started.

“But?” Matsukawa echoed, looking up at him as he pulled on his socks.

“But you never have time to hang out with the rest of us,” he finished, feeling a bit guilty for even mentioning it.

“I’m just… busy,” Matsukawa said, knowing that wouldn’t satisfy Hanamaki.

“You always say that… Would it be better if we hung out at your place?” he offered.

Matsukawa thought for a moment as he tied his shoelaces. “Maybe… that would work. But it wouldn’t be much fun for you. I’d have to take care of chores while you are there.”

“I could help out.” Hanamaki waited for Matsukawa at the door to the clubroom, ready to go. He locked the door behind them.

“I can’t ask you to do my chores for me, Makki. That’s… too much to ask.” They walked together towards the school entrance, the sun was moving closer to setting, turning the sky orange.

“Then let me at least keep you company.” They walked along the streets, past houses clustered together with stone walls between each one.

“...Fine. But not today. Tomorrow.” They paused at the intersection where they had to go separate ways.

“Okay, deal. Get some sleep, we don’t want you falling asleep at practice again,” Hanamaki reminded him, giving him a stern look.

The tips of Matsukawa’s ears turned pink. “I know, I know,” he said rubbing the back of his head. They waved goodbye.

\---

The following day preceded much the same as any other day, but today Hanamaki would finally get the chance to hang out with Matsukawa after practice as well. They were mindlessly chatting the entire way that Hanamaki didn’t realize that Matsukawa wasn’t following their usual path to his house. Instead, they stopped outside of a completely different house.

“One moment,” Matsukawa said, opening the gate and going up to the door. Hanamaki waited by the gate, curious about what he was up to. An older lady answered the door and rushing out from behind her came Matsukawa’s little sister. She practically jumped into his arms and he picked her up, slinging her bag over his shoulder along with his. Hanamaki couldn’t tell what he was saying, but it was probably something along the lines of thank you. Megumi notice Hanamaki standing there and hid her face in Matsukawa’s shoulder. Matsukawa met Hanamaki back at the gate. “Alright, ready.”

“Do you want me to carry your bags?” Hanamaki offered. Matsukawa shrugged off the bags and handed them to Hanamaki.

“Thanks. What were we talking about again?” he said casually, as if he wasn’t holding a child.

“I don’t remember,” Hanamaki said. Now that his friend’s sister was there, he didn’t know what to talk about. He was searching his brain for something when Matsukawa laughed. He turned to see Megumi whispering in his ear. “What?” he asked, curiously.

“She wants to know why you have pink hair, because pink is a girl’s color,” Matsukawa smirked, knowing that Hanamaki was about to make a fuss.

He fussed. “Pink is not a girls color! Lots of boys like pink too! It’s a pretty color and I think it looks good! Matsukawa agrees with me!” Hanamaki insisted. The young girl smiled and shyly hid her face in her brother’s shoulder. She whispered in his ear again.

Matsukawa nodded, “Of course I agree with him.” He listened again. “No, I’m not going to dye my hair pink too.” She whispered to him again. “Well have to ask mom about that.”

Hanamaki wished he could hear what she was asking, trying to guess what she said from his friends reply. “What is she saying?”

“She asked if I was going to dye my hair pink too and then if she could dye her hair,” Matsukawa repeated. Hanamaki smiled, thinking that she was a pretty cute kid.

Matsukawa carried Megumi all the way home, letting her kick off her shoes in his arms before setting her down. Before Hanamaki could ask what they were going to do, the other boy disappeared into his bedroom. With much of a choice, Hanamaki waited outside. Matsukawa emerged, changed into casual clothes, and made his way to the kitchen, starting to pull out food for dinner.

“Do you need any help?” Hanamaki asked trailing behind him.

“Nah, I got it.”

Hanamaki sat at the table, where he was soon joined by Megumi. She had her homework out, terribly easy stuff from what Hanamaki saw. She frowned at a problem, gnawing on her pencil as she thought about it.

“Issei, help me with this problem,” she called. Like the good older brother he was, he turned down the stove and stepped over to Megumi, looking at the problem over her shoulder. With a few brief sentences he was able to get her to understand the problem, and she went on with her worksheet. She called him over whenever she had trouble and he would always pause to help.

Hanamaki felt rather useless, sitting there on his phone just observing the two. He wondered when their mother was going to show up.

It wasn’t until Matsukawa was done preparing dinner when Tomoko showed up. Megumi put away her homework and they all sat around the table for dinner, lively chatting about their days. Hanamaki enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere immensely, wishing that his family could act like this, but knowing that was only wishful thinking. They even talked about dying Megumi’s hair, which Tomoko had no problem with but said that blue or purple might be more her color. It was all rather joyous until dinner was over. Then Tomoko apologized and said that she had some work she had to bring home and disappeared into her office. Megumi pulled out her homework again, this time for another class while Matsukawa put most of the leftovers into box lunches for tomorrow. Then he started to wash the dishes.

This time Hanamaki insisted on helping, standing next to Matsukawa as they cleaned. “Does she always bring home her work?” he asked when Matsukawa stepped back from helping Megumi.

“Yeah. She does a lot of work and everyone needs here help. She just can’t say no when someone needs assistance, so her own work doesn’t get done all the time,” Matsukawa explained.

“That’s rough.” Matsukawa hummed in agreement. He was called away by Megumi again.

Once they finished cleaning the dishes, Matsukawa sat down with his sister until she had finished all of her homework. Hanamaki sat across from them, mostly messing around on his phone, but occasionally caught up watching Matsukawa help Megumi struggle through a difficult problem.

Megumi excitedly ran over to the tv to watch some show after she finished her homework. Hanamaki expected that now would be when they would work on their own homework. He realized he was wrong when Matsukawa went about doing some daily chores.

“Do you want any help?” Hanamaki asked, as he sat by Megumi on the couch, watching Matsukawa work.

“It’s fine,” Matsukawa assured him. Hanamaki settled worrily into the couch, finding it hard to pay attention to the children’s show when his friend wasn’t relaxing as well.

After the show ended, Matsukawa playfully chased Megumi around until she got ready for bed. He would tuck her in, only to find her out of bed again, and tuck her in again. He repeated this about five times before she finally fell asleep.

Hanamaki smirked at him. “Does she always do that?”

“Every night. But it makes her tired, so she’ll sleep better.” They finally made their way to Matsukawa’s room. Hanamaki wasn’t sure how much longer he would be able to stay, it was already fairly late and his parents might make a fuss. But they only just now started on their own homework, and Hanamaki was starting to see why Matsukawa was so tired all the time.

As he predicted, they had only been working on homework for less than an hour when his cellphone rang. His parents were calling. He stepped outside to answer, preparing for the angry voice of one of his parents. Sure enough, his mother’s cold tone greeted him.

“Do you know how late it is, Takahiro,” her voice icy, and he could practically see her accusing beady eyes.

“Sorry, I lost track of time. I was doing homework with a friend,” he replied in a disinterested tone. He was already in trouble, nothing he could say would get him out of it.

“Shouldn’t you be finished with that by now? That doesn’t matter anyhow. You need to be home within the hour or you’ll be grounded for the weekend,” she instructed, leaving no room to argue.

“Yes, ma’am,” Hanamaki said, ending the call before she could say anything else. He checked the time, only twenty minutes until eleven. He sighed heavily and reentered Matsukawa’s bedroom. “I have to go home now,” he told him.

“Already?” Matsukawa looked surprised, then he checked the clock and let out a soft “oh”.

“Yeah. Don’t stay up too late doing homework,” Hanamaki said as he packed up his bag. They walked to the front door.

“What are you, my father?” Matsukawa teased. Hanamaki tried to swat at him but he dodged, laughing as the pink haired boy stumbled.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” Hanamaki waved goodbye, heading home. He could make it home in fifteen minutes.

\---

Hanamaki narrowed his eyes at Matsukawa as they walked to school.

“What time did you go to bed last night?” he asked.

Matsukawa rubbed the back of his head. “Around two am,” came his sheepish reply.

“Two! Holy shit, Mattsun, did it really take you that long to do the homework?” Hanamaki had gotten it done in about half that time and probably could have gotten it done quicker if he hadn’t been texting.

The tip of Matsukawa’s ears were turning pink. “I get distracted easily,” he said quietly. Hanamaki shook his head. No wonder he was so tired, he never got enough sleep and worked from morning until night everyday.

“Let me come over again,” he demanded more than asked.

“Are you sure?” Matsukawa said.

“Let me help you so you don’t stay up late all the time,” Hanamaki rephrased.

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t ask you to do that,” his friend mumbled.

“I want to do it,” Hanamaki insisted, giving Matsukawa his serious face.

Matsukawa looked at him for a bit before giving in. “Alright.”

\---

Hanamaki followed Matsukawa home again. This time, he insisted on helping Matsukawa cook, which didn’t go so well, as Matsukawa would stop to help Megumi and Hanamaki had no idea how to cook anything in the first place. He ended up sitting back down at the table after almost ruining dinner. Unable to sit still, he watched the two siblings work. Megumi was about to ask for Matsukawa’s help again, but Hanamaki leaned over and pointed at the problem.

“This one?” he asked. She nodded shyly. He thought of how Matsukawa would explain it and tried to help her that way. She stared at him then nodded. He watched over her as she worked, and when she needed help she would look up at him. It was a good thing these were elementary problems, or else Hanamaki would have been useless.

With him helping Megumi, Matsukawa was able to finish dinner a bit quicker than usual. But since Tomoko wasn’t home yet, he began filling the lunches for tomorrow.

Finally their mother arrived and they all ate together. It was another dinner filled with laughing and talking. Hanamaki rather enjoyed eating at Matsukawa’s place, it was an added bonus that the food tasted amazing.

After dinner, Hanamaki pushed Matsukawa back into his chair. “You help your sister. I’ll clean the dishes.” Matsukawa was about to protest, but Hanamaki gave him a stern look and he sighed, turning to his sister. They finished up her homework quicker than Hanamaki could wash the dishes. Matsukawa went to help.

“Don’t help me, do your other chores,” Hanamaki said.

“Are you sure?” Matsukawa hovered, not wanting to force Hanamaki to clean by himself.

“Yes, I’m sure. Go.” He shooed the boy away.

Matsukawa hesitated but went to take care of the other chores. Once Hanamaki was done cleaning he pulled out their own homework and started, waiting for Matsukawa. It was a couple minutes before the other boy joined him.

“It feels too early to be doing homework,” he admitted, sitting down next to Hanamaki. “I had to let Megumi watch another show because it’s too early for her to go to bed.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Hanamaki asked. Matsukawa thought about it for a moment then shrugged. “Come on, I want to try and finish this quickly.”

Matsukawa grumbled and tried to focus on the homework. Hanamaki soon realized why it took so long for the other boy to work. Every time he looked up, Matsukawa was either staring off into space, or doodling in the margins of his paper. He smacked Matsukawa on the shoulder, making him jump.

“Focus!”

“Sorry,” Matsukawa apologized. His ears were turning red again. Hanamaki thought it was a bit cute, but shook his head. He started reading the questions out loud, forcing Matsukawa to answer them as he circled his answers himself. They started arguing on one of the questions, torn between two answers when Megumi knocked on the door, peeking it open.

Matsukawa paused and looked up. “Time for bed?” he asked. She nodded and he followed her out. Hanamaki worked through a lot more problems while they were gone that he was almost done when Matsukawa returned.

“Come on, almost there,” Hanamaki encouraged as the curly haired boy groaned with his face on the table. They worked through the rest of the problems easily.

Matsukawa checked the time once they finished, surprised at the time. “It’s so early,” he remarked.

“That’s what happens when you have people helping you,” Hanamaki said, packing up his stuff and standing.

“Are you leaving now?” he asked, sounding disappointed.

“... Did you… want me to stay?” He couldn’t stay for long because of his parents but he didn’t really care and would rather spend more time with Matsukawa.

“We haven’t gotten do do anything fun at all.”

Hanamaki sat back down. “Then what do you suggest?”

Matsukawa pulled out his PSP. “Video games?”

Hanamaki grabbed his own out of his bag. “You’re on.”

\---

From then on, Hanamaki was coming over almost everyday, helping Matsukawa out and working on homework. He was able to get Matsukawa to sleep earlier and found that he was becoming easier to wake up. Sometimes he was up before Hanamaki even arrived. It was definitely an improvement, but Hanamaki almost missed fighting him out of bed. Almost. If the trade off was seeing his friend more awake and smiling, then it was worth it.

Without realizing it, the two had grown extremely used to each other and it wasn’t until Iwaizumi pointed it out, that they realized it.

“You two are like a couple,” Iwaizumi said one day, catching Hanamaki absentmindedly straightening Matsukawa’s tie. They both blushed.

“When did this development happen?” Oikawa smirked.

They weren’t given a chance to reply. “Don’t you two go home together now too?” Iwaizumi’s eyebrow quirked.

“And I remember Hanamaki mentioning that he wakes you up in the morning as well, Mattsun,” Oikawa teased. Hanamaki’s blush grew redder and Matsukawa rubbed the back of his head.

“Hanamaki just helps me with homework and chores,” Matsukawa tries to explain.

“You make Hanamaki do chores for you?” Iwaizumi asked bewildered.

“Matsukawa gives me dinner in return,” Hanamaki tries to argue.

“So Mattsun cooks for you then?” Oikawa said, twisting his words. Hanamaki knew that there would be nothing they could say to make the two think otherwise. He tried anyways.

“That’s because Matsukawa’s cooking is the best. It’s better than anything I’d get at home,” he said.

“Can we try sometime?” Iwaizumi asked, looking genuinely curious.

Matsukawa rubbed the back of his head again. “Sorry, I only cook for my family.” Hanamaki stared at him. That wasn’t going to help.

“Is Makki family then?” Oikawa mused, clearly enjoying this display.

The curly haired boy looked him, then back at the other two friends before saying, “Yes.”

Hanamaki knew his cheeks were burning red. He was glad there was no one else around.

\---

“Why did you say that?” Hanamaki asked once he was alone with Matsukawa.

“Say what?” Matsukawa asked innocently, although Hanamaki thought he knew exactly what he was talking about.

“That I was family,” he mumbled.

“But you are family. You are over so much and help out a lot. You know what Megumi calls you?”

“What does she call me?” His curiosity was peaked, because Megumi never spoke much around him, preferring to share her words with her brother only.

“Onii-san,” Matsukawa smiled at him. Hanamaki blushed and stared down at the street. “Admit it. You’re family now.” Matsukawa lightly bumped shoulders with him. As happy as that statement made him, Hanamaki couldn’t help but feel like it was off.

\---

Hanamaki caught himself staring at Matsukawa, again. It had been the fifth time that day, and it didn’t help that he sat a ways behind his friend now, free to stare without the other knowing. What was he doing? This never happened before, but now he kept staring at his friend, admiring him from behind. He shook his head. Matsukawa was definitely handsome, but he couldn’t possibly be… into him… could he?

He found himself staring again, this time Matsukawa glanced back and they made eye contact. His friend smiled before turning away. Hanamaki felt his cheeks start to burn. Shit.

\---

Surely he was overthinking it. Everytime Matsukawa was close, it felt like too close, but he didn’t want to move in case he made things awkward. He started doubting his every move around Matsukawa and whether it was normal or too much. The end result was that he felt stiff and even more worn out then before.

Matsukawa nudged his arm as they were supposed to be working on homework. “Are you okay?” he asked, as Hanamaki jumped in surprise.

“I’m fine. I’m fine. Where were we?” Hanamaki quickly looked back to the sheet there were working on, scanning the page for where they left off.

“Makki,” Matsukawa said. Hanamaki turned to look at him and blinked in surprise when his friend placed their hand up to his forehead. His hand was warm and rough from playing volleyball, but Hanamaki thought it felt nice. He couldn’t stop his cheeks from burning red as he locked eyes with Matsukawa. “Interesting,” he said, pulling his hand away and smiling slightly. Fuck.

“I need some air,” Hanamaki said quickly, bolting towards the door.

“Makki, wait!” Matsukawa tried to say, but Hanamaki was already out the door.

He stood just outside the gate, fanning his face. There was no time to be thinking about these kinds of things. They were closer to being third years now and he really needed to start focusing on his exams. He didn’t have time for some silly crush on his best friend. He sighed heavily, looking up at the sky to calm himself.

The door creaked open behind him. “Makki?” Matsukawa called, stepping out of the house. He walked over and leaned against the gate peering around the wall to see Hanamaki standing there. “You okay?” he asked softly.

“Mattsun…” Hanamaki started, keeping his eyes on the night sky.

“Hm,” he hummed in response.

“I think I like you,” he said quickly.

“I would hope that you like me, we are best friends,” Matsukawa said playfully. He knew that he was playing dumb and Hanamaki wanted to smack him.

“I mean that I might be in love with you,’ he confessed, finally looking at Matsukawa. Matsukawa was smiling at him. “What?” he asked, almost offended at having his moment ruined.

“Oh nothing. I’ve just been wondering when you would say that,” he mused, swinging the gate open towards Hanamaki, so that it was still between then but he was closer.

Hanamaki sputtered, “You knew!?”

“You aren’t exactly the most subtle person I know,” he said leaning in closer.

Hanamaki’s cheeks burned. “But… What about you? How do you feel about me?”

“I’ve already told you. You’re like family,” he said reaching out to pull on Hanamaki’s shirt front. He pulled Hanamaki to him, kissing him softly on the lips.

“Oh,” was all Hanamaki could say once he pulled away. He had thought it had just been a one sided thing. So all those small things that he had fretted about himself, Matsukawa had been doing on purpose. He wanted to die, but he was also extremely happy. His head was spinning and he leaned against Matsukawa’s shoulder. “Can I call you Issei then?” he asked quietly.

“Only when we’re alone. You know Oikawa would never let us hear the end of it,” Matsukawa chuckled.

Hanamaki couldn’t help but laugh too. Once it had passed, he stood up straight and looked at Matsukawa. “I love you, Issei.” This time it was the other boy’s turn to blush as he rubbed the back of his head.

“I love you too, Takahiro,” he smiled, pulling Hanamaki in for another kiss. Hanamaki felt like he would melt, he was so happy. He didn’t want the moment to end, but it did. Matsukawa gently pulled him around the gate. “Come on, we need to finish our homework.”

“Do we have to?” Hanamaki complained, the moment ruined by the mention of homework. He pouted behind Matsukawa, who was leading him to the door.

The other boy looked back and smiled. “We can make out once we’re done,” he said, knowing that Hanamaki would take the bait. He did and rushed ahead, pulling Matsukawa behind him. The faster they finished the more time they had to kiss, Hanamaki reasoned.

\------

**Author's Note:**

> So this was actually a really old fic that I wrote when I first got into it. I had left it incomplete but then my friend convinced me to finish it. So i rewrote a lot of what I had and made it about twice as long when finishing it. Its kinda mundane, but I hope you like it! You get to see Makki blushing a lot!


End file.
